Lenoir-Rhyne Captures 13th SAC Softball Regular Season Title; Tournament Bracket Released
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – For the 13th time in program history, and the first since 2018, the Lenoir-Rhyne softball team has captured the SAC Regular Season Championship. The Bears wrapped up the title yesterday with a sweep of Carson-Newman.
The Bears went 37-11 overall in 2026 and secured the regular season crown with a 19-3 conference record. Lenoir-Rhyne closed the regular season on a seven-game winning streak and will host a three-game series at McCrorie Family Stadium against the No. 8 seed.
Anderson earned the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament and a home series after splitting with Emory & Henry on Sunday to finish the year with a 17-5 SAC mark.
Carson-Newman is the No. 3 seed in next week's tournament. The Eagles dropped their final two games of the regular season to the Bears but finished with an impressive 16-6 conference record and are 37-10 overall.
Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill tied for fourth in the conference standings, each posting a 12-10 record. The Railsplitters earned the tiebreaker based on a head-to-head sweep earlier this season. LMU claims the final host site for the quarterfinal round and will face Mars Hill. The Lions' outstanding season saw them post 31 overall wins and are led by Kamryn Akins in the circle, who broke a program record with 16 wins this year.
Catawba and Wingate each finished 11-11 in conference play, but Catawba holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the Bulldogs during the regular season. The Indians are the No. 6 seed and will travel to Carson-Newman.
Wingate is the No. 7 seed and will travel to second-seeded Anderson this weekend.
Emory & Henry claimed the No. 8 seed, finishing 10-12 in conference play and 26-22 overall. The Wasps will head to Hickory to take on top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne.
Opening Weekend
Games Friday, May 1 – Sunday, May 3
at Higher Seed
Series 1: #1 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #8 Emory & Henry
Series 2: #2 Anderson vs. #7 Wingate
Series 3: #3 Carson-Newman vs. #6 Catawba
Series 4: #4 Lincoln Memorial vs. #5 Mars Hill
Championship Bracket
Day 1 – Thursday, May 7 | Day 2 – Friday, May 8 | Day 3 – Saturday, May 9
at Highest Remaining Seed
Thursday, May 7
Game 1: Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed
Game 2: Middle seed vs. Middle seed
Friday, May 8
Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Game 4: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Game 5: Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Saturday, May 9
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 (if necessary)